This Friday in Bil'in

About 10 internationals and 15 Israelis joined several dozens of Palestinians for the weekly demo in Bil'in, which marked the 61st memorial day of the Nakba - the expulsion of Palestinians from Israel during israel's war of independence. The demonstrators carried an oversized cardboard key as a figure for the keys of the homes left behind, which many Palestinians still hold on to, and which symbolize the Palestinian right of return. The army greeted the demonstration with an exceptionally large amount of tear gas apparently shot with the aid of a multi-canister cannon, and caused several gas related injuries. A group of about 30 protesters remained at the gate for a long while despite the army's shock grenades, gas and bullets. When the demonstration was declared over, the army's shooting set fire in the olive grove next to the fence. The army kept shooting gas and bullets at the people who came to put the fire out, despite repeated calls in Hebrew saying that the demonstration was over, and that the people were only extinguishing the fire. Two people were injured in their legs from rubber coated metal bullets, but the fire was eventually put out.